Reincarnated as the mother of an otome game's villainess?!

Chapter 5. This must be the place.

By her request, we had followed the Queen and her entourage of maids and guards to a nearby coffee shop, to "catch up". Most of the store's patrons left after paying their respects to the queen, probably intimidated by her Highness' presence. I felt a bit bad for the owner, but they could probably presume their store was visited by the queen afterwards. By the way we were attended, it seemed like the Queen was a regular client, though.

She was very close to her deliver date, so she had apparently decided to go out and "stretch out" by visiting the city before she had to enter quarantine and remain in her room. I wished I had thought of that.

—How long has it been since we meet up like this, four or five years? —Erzebeth said in a slightly accusatory tone, smelling the coffee in her cup—, and how long has it been since you replied any of my letters with anything more than "I'm healthy, thank you for your concerns", huh?

She was progressively sounding more aggravated.

—I-I'm sorry, your Highness —I said, looking down.

I had met her when I was six or seven years old. Mother went out to meet some "friends" of her, as she had done before several times. But that time, instead of leaving me at the care of Adrian, and the five maids that still worked for us, she took me along with her. It was probably one of the first times I had gone out of our house. Our own house was big, but that mansion was in a completely different level. There were more rooms that I could count, and that was only those we went through to get to the meeting hall. Soldiers and maids came and go in every direction, and some of them just stood in place with a solemn expression. When we finally met with Mother's "friends", everyone but her kneeled and lowered their heads. I tried to mimic them, but Mother stopped me.

—We don't kneel to anyone, just a bow is enough —she said sternly, but with a sly smile.

I nodded, and did just that. One of the attendants of that mansion told me Mother and her "friends" would have to talk adult business.

—The young Princess is playing on the garden, would you like to play with her? —she said.

She extended her hand towards me, and I recoiled a bit. I wasn't accustomed to talking to strangers, at all. I looked up to Mother, who nodded without really looking at me. I timidly grabbed that person's hand, and followed by the maid that was accompanying us, she lead me to the garden. I was amazed with how big it was, it was probably bigger than our entire property.

—Eva! —a young girl with red hair yelled as she spotted us.

She came running towards us and jumped into the maid's arms.

—Careful there, young princess —the attendant said, but the girl was ignoring her already.

—Hello, who are you?! —she yelled again as she laid her eyes on me.

—I-I'm... my n-name is... —I was scared. I was a sheltered kid, and I had always had a coward streak. I closed my eyes and looked down, while I continue to stutter.

I felt a warm embrace.

—There, there, don't be scared —the other kid said, hugging me.

I started to slowly breathe deeply, and my heart and anxiety calmed down.

—Do you feel better?

—Y-yeah. I'm Rossane —I managed to say.

—I'm Erzi! Nice to meet you! Do you want to meet my pets?

I nodded timidly, and she practically dragged me to a corner of the garden, where a mini-zoo had been built. There was a pony, a few dogs, birds of all sorts, and Erzi's favorites, a family of bunnies. Apparently, when I was about to cry earlier, it reminded her of how she had calmed her pets after a storm had scared them. We played all afternoon, and I was so tired I felt asleep on the way home. It was not until several days later that I heard some of the maids gossiping, that I found out Mother's "friends" were the King and the Queen, and Erzi was the princess Erzebeth. I was scared of going back to a place of such prestige again, for some reason.